Seal-lock



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T. s. WHEELWRIGHT &'G. s. TIFFANY.

SEAL LOCK.

No. 578,798. Patented Mar. 16, 1897.

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THOMAS S. WI-IEELWRIGHT AND GEORGE S. TIFFANY, OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS.

SEAL- SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N 0. 578,798, dated March 16, 1897.

Application filcdAngust 13, 1896. Serial No. 602,596. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS S. WHEEL- WRIGHT and GEORGE S. TIFFANY, citizens of the United States, residing at Highland Park, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Seal Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to a car-seal lock, and more particularly to improvements in the lock described in an application of George S. Tiffany, one of the parties hereto, filed April 10, 1896,Serial No. 586,904. The lock of said invention comprises a hasp and staple, through which latter passes a pin provided with a plunger, between which and the body of the pin a sheet-metal seal is locked, the presence of the seal preventing the withdrawal of the pin through the staple.

The present invention com prehends certain improvements in the construction of the pin and also a novel form of seal whereby tampering with the lock without detection is effectually prevented.

We have illustrated our invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view, partially in section, of the lock of our invention, showing the plum ger'withdrawn and the seal in position. Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the plunger thrust in and locked. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an end view of the plunger. Fig. 5 is a view showing a modified form of plunger and seal with the plunger withdrawn. Fig. 6 is a view showing the plunger thrust in. Fig. '7 is a view showing the cross-piece rotated into line with the plunger. Fig. 8 is a similar view at right angles thereto. Fig. 9 is a view looking toward the end of the cross-piece. Fig. 10 is a view of a modification in which the plunger is provided with an upturned end.

Fig. 11 is a view thereof at right angles to the view of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a top view of the pin. Fig. 13 is a view showing the plunger withdrawn.

Like letters refer to like parts in the several figures.

The hasp a fits over the staple Z) and the pin passes through the staple to lock the ha sp in position. The pin comprises a body part or shell 0 and a plunger cl, fitting therein. A shoulder c is provided at the upper end of the shell, and above this is a ring 0 to which a chain may be attached for securing the pin to the car. The shell is provided in the lower end with transverse slots 0 0 while the plunger is provided with a transverse slot cl and with a slot d extending longitudinally therefrom, the slot 62 registering with the slots in the end of the shell when the plunger is thrust in. The seal 6 passes through the 65 transverse slots and is locked inposition When the plungeris thrust in. Extending from the upper end of the shell is a rod 01 of spring metal, having an upturned end or catch (Z The upper end of the plunger has 0 a channel 01 extending from the middle toward one edge and communicating with the recess d. The channel 01 has an oblique or sloping wall 01 at the end, and when the plunger is thrust in the oblique wall engages V the upturned end of the rod d thusflexing the rod and permitting the upturned end to pass through the channel 61 into the recess 01, thus locking the plunger in position and pre-. venting the withdrawal thereof.

By rotating the plunger through a halfturn the channel 01 is brought opposite the upturned end of the rod d and the Withdrawal of the plunger is permitted. When the seal is in position, the rotation of the plun- 8 5 ger is prevented, and it is thus necessary to break the seal before the plunger can be rotated to disengage the same from the catch. Above the plunger and pressing against the end thereof is a coiled spring f. The presence 0 of the spring necessitates the thrusting of the plunger into complete engagement with the catch, and any attempt to thrust the plunger in far enough to make it hold while not engaging the catch will be frustrated by the 5 spring, which possesses sufficient tension to eject the plunger against any frictional engagement that may be made between the plunger and the shell or catch.

The improved seal of our invention com prises an intermediate portion 77., which passes through the transverse slots in the shell and plunger, the laterally-extended portions h h, which prevent the withdrawal of the seal from the slot, and the tongue or lateral extension 71?, which rests within the transverse slot 61, while the intermediate portion rests within the longitudinally-extending slot 01 When the plunger is thrust in, the tongue 71 extends above the ends 'of the slots 0 c in the end of the shell, and it is thus necessary to break the seal upon both sides of the intermediate portionalong the dotted lines. The seal is preferably weakened along these lines to facilitate the breaking of the seal. Then the tongue is omitted, it is sometimes possible after breaking and removing the seal to replace the pieces with the edges slightly overlapping or soldered together, thus presenting the appearance of a seal which has not been tampered with. Bynecessitating the breaking of the seal on both sides of the pin insufficient material is left for the overlapping of the edges. To further provide against the soldering of .the edges together, the seals are coated with the composition disclosed in Letters Patent No. 545,260, issued August 27, 1895, to Thomas S. VVheelwright, one of the parties hereto, and if it be attempted to heat the edges of the seal for the purpose of soldering the edges the composition runs over the metal, thus preventing the solder from taking a hold upon the metal. Furthermore, by making the seals of sheet-iron the tinning of the edges of the seal is necessitated before the edges can be soldered, and the composition likewise prevents the effective tinning of the metal.

To prevent the withdrawal of the pin by wrapping the seal about the pin, a longitudinal ridge may be provided upon the shell fitting a slot in the staple, in accordance with the application above referred to, or the plunger may be constructed with a rotatable head, as illustrated in Figs. 5 to 9.

' Upon the lower end of the plunger is pivoted a cross piece or head it, which, when the plunger is thrust in, rests transversely against the end of the shell and prevents the withdrawal of the pin through the staple. When the plunger is withdrawn, the head may be rotated into the line of the shell, thus permitting the passage of the pin through the staple. In order to impart as much strength as possible to the cross-piece, it is formed with a cross-section equal to a quarter-circle, so that when rotated into its longitudinal position the rounded exterior of the cross-piece conforms to the exterior of the shell. The central laterally-extending portion 7a of the cross-piece is formed with a semicircular cross-section, such that when the plunger is thrust in the part it willpass within the bore of the shell. The face of the part coacts with the flat face of the plunger to form the transverse slot Within which the seal rests when the plunger is thrust in. A pin 70 is cast on the cross-piece, which fits in a hole in the plunger and serves as a pivot.

In the form of pin shown in Figs.10, 11,12, and 13 a shelf Z is provided upon the side of the pin and the plunger is provided with an upturned end or portion Z, the end of which rests against the shelf when the plunger is thrust in. The edge of the shelf is cut away beneath to form a channel Z within which the end of the upturned portion of the plunger rests. When the plunger is drawn out, as in Fig. 13, the pin is passed over the staple, after which the plunger is thrust in and locked, the pin being thus locked to the staple. Transverse slots are provided in the end of the shell and in the plunger, as in the pins before described, andwhen the plunger is thrust in the rotation of the plunger is prevented by the seal. The catch for locking the plunger within the shell is the same as illustrated in Fig. 1. The staple thus rests between the seal and the shelf.

In some forms of cars, particularly refrigerator-cars, a form of lock has been employed to a considerable extent in which the staple is much smaller than in the usual form of hasp-an'd-staple locks, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a form of pin that may be indiscriminately used with locks having either the small or'large staples. WVith locks having the small staples the upturned portion l of the plunger is passed through the staple from beneath, and when the plunger is thrust in the pin is locked to the staple Z (shown in dotted lines,) and the removal of the pin is prevented unti] the seal is broken. The pin may thus be used for either form of lock.

The shelf Z is made practically semicircular, so that the plunger must be rotated through a quarter-turn in either direction before the upturned end of the plunger clears the shelf. The breaking of the seal before the pin can be removed from the staple is thus insured.

'Having described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a pin for seal-locks the combination with a shell having at the lower end trans verse slots for the reception of a sheet-like seal, of a plunger extending into said shell and carrying a transverse slot for the reception of said seal the seal being locked in said slots when the plunger is thrust in, a catch for locking said plunger within the shell, and a spring situated between the plunger and the shell for maintaining said plunger in the outer position unless the catch be thrown into engagement, whereby the partial insertion of the plunger is prevented,substantially as described.

2. A seal for looks comprising the intermediate portion h for passage through slots in the lock, laterally-extended portions 77/ h on each side of said intermediate portion, and a tongue 71, extending laterally from the edge of said intermediate portion, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the shell and the plunger carrying registering transverse slots, of the sheet-like seal having an intermediate portion passing through said slots, laterallyextended portions resting upon opposite sides of the shell to prevent the Withdrawal of the seal from the slots without breaking the seal, and the tongue extending from the edge of said intermediate portion and resting above the ends of the slots in the shell to necessitate the breaking of the seal upon both sides of the shell, substantially as described.

4:. In a pin for seal-locks, the combination with a shell, of a plunger between which and the shell the seal is locked to prevent the rotation of the plunger, aspring-rod extending longitudinally from the upper end of said shell and carrying alateral extension or catch on the end, the end of said plunger being provided with a transverse slot extending partially across the end thereof and a shoulder beneath said slot, whereby the spring-rod is flexed when the plunger is thrust in to cause the catch to engage said shoulder while a halfrotation of the plunger brings said transverse slot opposite the catch and permits the withdrawal of the plunger, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a pin having a bore in the end, of a plunger extending into said bore, means for looking a seal between said plunger and pin when the plunger is thrust in, a shelf provided upon the side of said pin, an upturned end provided on said plunger and coacting with said shelf when the plunger is thrust in, and a catch for looking said plunger within the pin except when the plunger is rotated, substantially as described.

In witness whereof we hereunto subscribe 40 our names in the presence of two witnesses.

THOS. S. VVHEELWRIGHT. GEORGE S. TIFFANY. Witnesses:

T. O. SHELDON,

W. CLYDE JONES. 

